Aleph
by WannabeMerman
Summary: After the Golden Morning, Taylor has a new life on Earth Aleph, but all is not as smooth as it seems. In the aftermath of Scion's death, people on Aleph are triggering, and how will Taylor cope when her past life begins to catch up with her? Disclaimer: Worm belongs to Wildbow.
1. Prologue: Golden Morning

**Prologue: Golden Morning**

The beam hit him, and it hit him hard. He immediately realised his mistake, the one he had made before even arriving on this planet. He should never have given up the administrator shard.

His survival had depended on the human race being unable to work completely in tandem. No matter how many powers came up against him, they would all have their own agendas, which would undermine any teamwork. He simply hadn't accounted for the fact that someone might be able to partially repair the administrator.

Now he had an enormous number of shards against him, all working in perfect harmony under the control of the administrator. He didn't stand a chance.

The beam ate away at his very being, blasting pieces off his other part, sending some of the most powerful shards, ones he had kept for himself, spiralling off into random universes, with random hosts.

The beam penetrated to his core, and all of his remaining shards were blasted away, some reaching every possible Earth, each waiting for their host to have a traumatic enough experience.

He didn't even have time to feel the pain. Scion died.


	2. I: Trigger

**I. Trigger**

Earth Aleph had been completely sealed off from Earth Bet after the Golden Morning. The story was pretty widely known though. Enough people had escaped that it was common knowledge as to what had happened to defeat Scion.

Shortly afterwards, the triggers began.

Jennifer Stevens was standing in the bank when all hell broke loose. The man in front of her had burst into flames.

"Everyone on the floor!" he yelled. "Get down or I torch this place with all of you inside!"

Jenny, as she preferred to be called, immediately dove for the floor. If he cut loose, she would be one of the first to die.

The flames receded from one of the man's arms as he turned around to make sure he was being obeyed. He looked down at Jenny. "You'll do," he said, before pointing the arm at her. "Listen up! If you don't find someone to open the vault immediately, pretty girl here gets her face burned off, understand?" He grabbed her with the arm which was not on fire, and held his other arm in her face. "Hurry up, people!"

"_Why?"_ Jenny thought._ "Why did it have to be me? Or him? He looked so normal, why couldn't I tell he was going to do this? Why couldn't I tell? I'm going to die. Somebody, help meeeeeee..."_

* * *

Jenny was in the middle of nowhere, watching... something. It was vast, lying on the ground, just sitting there. It suddenly started writhing, as though in pain. Actually, it probably was in pain, given that it seemed to be starting to fall apart. A bright light appeared in the very centre of the... thing, and it exploded.

Jenny flinched as one of the pieces of... whatever it was slammed straight into her.

* * *

Jenny opened her eyes. She had a flash of memory of... something, but she couldn't remember exactly what had happened. The man who had taken her hostage had his hands on his forehead, as though he had a headache, and his flames had gone out.

He looked like he might be about to recover, so she kicked him in the face. He crumpled, unconscious.

She looked down at the would-be bank robber, and was immediately faced with a huge influx of information. It was as though someone had plugged her into a computer.

"_Flame Shard. Allows full or partial conversion of body into fire. Allows user to manipulate fire at a range of fifty metres. Threat level: Medium. Warning: Shard may cause tendencies towards violence."_

She knew his capabilities instantly.

She backed away from his unconscious body, and there was only one thought going through her mind: _"Did I just trigger?"_

* * *

It had been a very long day. After going over what had happened with the police, and then the parahuman division, she was exhausted. She went straight home and went for a nice, relaxing bath.

Had she actually triggered? And if she had, what was she now capable of? She really hoped that it was more than just knowing other peoples' powers. It would really suck to know what someone was capable of, but not be able to do anything about it.

Another thing that surprised her was that the flame man had clearly felt something at (she assumed) the same time as she triggered. Did her trigger event interrupt his power in some way? It was worth considering.

After half an hour of wondering, she finally dragged herself out of the bath. After dressing, she walked over to the mirror to deal with her long, blonde hair, which could get a bit unruly when wet. She looked her reflection in the eyes and it happened again.

"_Shard Manipulation Shard. Allows user to identify shards, and manipulate any shard user is in physical contact with. Threat level: Not applicable to self."_

It didn't make much sense to Jenny. What was a 'shard' anyway? She assumed it was related to powers in some way. In fact, now that she thought about it, she had been able to tell exactly what the man in the bank's powers were just by looking at him. Her own reflection had given her enough information to realise that they weren't just to do with powers, the shards were the powers.

But that would mean...

"_I can't possibly have the ability to manipulate others' powers, can I?"_

It wasn't something she particularly wanted to find out. That sort of power could get someone killed.

If that was the power she had, she would try her hardest to ensure nobody ever found out about it.


	3. II: Flatmates

**II. Flatmates**

_Six Months Later_

I couldn't sleep any longer. I was just too excited about the day ahead. I was finally able to go to university.

The past year had been pretty quiet for me, all things considered. The fact that my school records were locked away on Earth Bet had been a problem, especially considering that we were trying to keep it a secret that I was from there. It would be very bad if people knew the things I had done.

The only reason we had been able to live here at all was that Cauldron had provided a complete set of fake documents, as well as a large amount of money after saving my life. I couldn't understand why, but I guessed that stopping Scion, which had been their main objective, had earned me it in their eyes. Say what you want about Cauldron, they are thorough; I couldn't find a single thing missing.

The trigger events occurring here were a slight worry. The ones on Bet had been caused by Scion and his partner. Was there another pair of those things, or was this just backlash from his death? There was no way of knowing.

I really didn't want to have to go through nearly becoming an Endbringer again.

I had made sure to keep an eye on the cape scene in case someone with his levels of power appeared, but so far none had.

I was going to be studying computer science in New York. It had been my best subject when I actually went to school, due to the amount of time I spent in there to avoid Emma, Madison and Psycho Stalker, as I had taken to calling Sophia. Not that they were a big deal, given some of the other things I'd done since.

I still enjoyed my morning runs every day, despite the fact that there was no point being able to run ridiculous distances if I didn't have powers to use. Maybe I could join the track team or something.

My father and I were currently staying in a hotel, but today I was to move into the student flat I was renting for the year, along with another girl I was yet to meet.

"Taylor, time to get up," said Dad.

I practically jumped out of bed, I couldn't wait to be doing something new. I had lived independently before, as Skitter, but this time I would actually have permission to be doing it. It felt good.

I wolfed my breakfast down in record time, and effectively dragged Dad out of the door. By nine a.m. we were outside the flat.

Mrs Harrison was already there, waiting for us, so she gave us a quick tour, providing all of the important details, but I wasn't really paying attention. I had some residual effects from my days as a cape. It wasn't easy to notice if you weren't looking for it, but every time I went somewhere new, I still looked for any possible tactical advantages. It seemed silly to keep doing it, but I couldn't help myself.

It was at this point that my new flatmate arrived. That was when it really got crazy.

* * *

Jenny entered her new flat, and glimpsed a girl about her age standing in one of the rooms. Jenny had moved in the day before, and thought it was a nice place, but it was a relief that her flatmate had arrived. The previous night had been very boring with no one to talk to.

She walked into the room and said, "Hi, I'm Jenny."

The other girl spun quickly, as Jenny's power kicked in. _"Administrator Shard. Allows user to control any living creature within four-hundred metres. Previously manipulated by this shard to limit control to extremely simple minded creatures. Evidence of tampering by Bio-Manipulation Shard, followed by crude surgery. Current abilities: None. Current threat level: None. Maximum threat level: Extreme."_

"I'm Taylor, nice to meet you," the girl replied, before holding out a hand.

Jenny reached out and shook the hand, but instantly regretted it, as her power did something unexpected. _"Contact established. Repairing Administrator Shard to specifications of last manipulation. New threat level: High."_ That was not what Jenny wanted to do, but it was too late. The damage was done. _"Shit,"_ she thought.

* * *

Jenny's eyes widened shortly before she shook my hand. I didn't understand why, but I was about to.

From the second she made contact, I felt a strange sensation shooting up my arm. It quickly reached my head, and I felt something I thought I could never feel again.

A spider was making a web in the next room. A dog with fleas was being walked along the street below. A wasp was caught in a web in the next building. A butterfly flew along a small alleyway a block away.

Two blocks. I knew that with a single thought, every creepy-crawly within two blocks would be at my beck and call.

My eyes widened in shock. Jenny had done this to me. My powers were back, as they had been at the beginning, but this time I had nearly three years of experience to draw on. I had made a difference last time, this time I could do more from the start. I could become a hero like I meant to last time. I could do it right. I could... ask Jenny how the hell she just did that.

"Jenny, what just happened?"

For her part, Jenny turned pale. She looked like she was considering running. It took her a few seconds, but she finally decided against. We were going to have to live with each other for a year after all.

"I'll tell you," she said, "but in private."

"I think my Dad needs to hear this, but I agree, no one else."

Jenny looked suspiciously at Dad for a moment. "Fine."

Mrs Harrison chose this moment to quietly leave the room.

"OK," I said. "What's going on? What you did just there is supposed to be impossible."

"Er... Taylor?" Dad asked. "What exactly did she do? It looked like you just shook hands."

In response, I simply held out my hand, and directed a nearby fly to land on it.

Dad looked gobsmacked. "So how did you reconnect me with my bugs?" I asked.

"I have powers," replied Jenny. "My power calls itself the Shard Manipulation Shard. When I see someone with powers, I know every detail of the powers they have, and if I touch someone, I can manipulate their power levels, within reason. I saw you, and it said you had something called the Administrator Shard, but it was badly damaged, and when I touched your hand it went on autopilot to repair it. I had no idea that was going to happen."

"Did it say how it got damaged?" I asked, hoping I could salvage the situation.

"It appeared to have been tampered with by a Bio-manipulation Shard, and then nearly disconnected in some form of surgery."

I groaned. While the full details weren't there, it was probably enough to make an educated guess as to what was going on. "And you want to know what happened," I guessed.

Jenny nodded firmly. I decided it would be easiest to tell the truth. I glanced at Dad, and he nodded.

"I developed bug control powers when I was fifteen. Two block range, and unlimited multitasking. I became a villain in Brockton Bay Bet. The group I joined, and eventually led, The Undersiders, took control of the entire city's underworld. Stuff happened, and I ended up having to switch to the heroes to try to save the world.

"I failed. Scion attacked, and because everyone had their own agenda, all undermining each other, he was winning. I had no choice. I went to Panacea, and had her alter my brain. The power to make everyone work together, at the cost of my own sanity. The only way to recover was to have my powers removed.

"I had many names. Skitter, as a villain, Weaver, as a hero." I paused, before adding, "And Khepri as a monster."

Jenny's mouth had dropped open halfway through my explanation. By the end she looked terrified. "Khepri," she whispered. "You killed Scion."

I nodded slowly. "It cost me almost everything I held dear."

"My power is calling you a high level threat with the possibility to become extreme," she said faintly. "You caused the death of the most powerful being known to man."

"And I lost all of my friends. I killed the most feared being in the world, only to _become_ the most feared being in the world. I couldn't even recognise my friends. My life was ruined. I couldn't stay. I was offered the choice between death, and the loss of my powers, and I chose to die. But they saved me."

Jenny appeared to be at a loss for words, so I decided to calm her down a little. "I'll do you a deal. Nobody finds out that I was Khepri, and nobody finds out you can alter peoples' powers. We both know our lives will be ruined if our secrets get out. Yours is big. Mine is big. We help each other keep them quiet, and we both win."

"What are the chances," Jenny asked, "of me ending up in a flat with the one person with a secret as big as mine."

Now that she mentioned it, it was quite a coincidence. The odds were astronomical. It was almost as though someone had set it up to be like that. What hit me next was a sobering thought.

"The final battle..." I murmured.

"What?"

"I spent a significant period of time in the vicinity of the Simurgh. She's the only one I can think of capable of setting this up."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means," I said slowly, "that depending on whether or not she truly switched sides, either something really good, or something really bad will come of this meeting. And when I say really bad, I mean that in the past she has been responsible for nuclear meltdowns."

"Is there any way we can avoid it?"

"Knowing the Simurgh, she'll have predicted any move we might make. The best plan is to go with the flow, and hope we're in one piece on the other side." I held my hand out again. "Friends?"

Jenny took the hand, and shook it. "Friends."


	4. III: Doing It Right

**III. Doing It Right**

Unlike on Earth Bet, powers hadn't been around for long here. While both heroes and villains had formed teams, the government sponsored teams were few and far between.

This situation suited me. While I had enjoyed my time with the Wards, the government teams had to push through more red tape than I was comfortable with. I assumed that it would be the same here.

The disadvantage of having so many independent teams was the difficulty in getting in contact with them. Plus, you had to hope that you could get along with the members if you did make contact. As soon as my powers had been returned, I had started looking up which hero teams were active in New York, and, out of them, who I could be friendly with.

Most parahumans trigger in their teens, so I had the advantage that most of the teams would likely have members around my age.

The most famous team in town were The Guardians. They had made a few high profile takedowns early on, but, from what I read, fame had gone to their heads. They tended to think of themselves as superior and looked down on other teams. That wasn't what I was looking for. Just because the other teams didn't have the reputation didn't mean they were no good, so I looked for a smaller team.

Besides, I didn't think The Guardians would be too interested in someone with bug control anyway. Even I admit that it _sounds_ pretty rubbish.

In fact, that was probably going to be a problem for any team I looked at joining. If your power doesn't sound useful, people naturally assume that it isn't. I was going to have to build some rep around town, just like I had been attempting on the night I first met the Undersiders. I could only hope that I ended up on the side of good this time. I didn't want to be feared, except by criminals.

Jenny had flatly refused when I suggested she could be a hero too. I didn't even suggest using her manipulation power, that would put her in danger, but even just knowing what powers I would be up against would be a huge advantage. There was a site here similar to Parahumans Online, but it was nowhere near as detailed yet. I simply couldn't get all of the information I needed.

Upon discovering that my powers had returned, Dad had known he couldn't stop me from doing this. He had simply told me to be careful, and not to take on anyone out of my league. I had barely stopped myself laughing in his face after that comment. I had beaten Mannequin with these powers; there were very few people 'out of my league'.

I had already gathered spiders and started on my costume. Something less edgy this time; I wanted it to be obvious that I was a hero. I had decided on a mainly white design, with the image of a ladybird on the front; nice and non-threatening.

As for a name, I thought I should just stick with Weaver. Very few people here had made the connection between Skitter, Weaver and Khepri, so the name wasn't well known. I could make a new start, and nobody would be any the wiser as to my past.

* * *

My next three days were spent learning the lie of the land, something a lot easier to do when you can 'see' for two blocks.

I also learned the gang situation. Most of the crime in Manhattan was run by the Overlords, who seemed to be the New York equivalent of Empire 88. Their leader was White Frost, who had ice powers, but it was strongly suspected that his wife, Lady Crusher, actually called the shots.

They had risen to the top easily because they were the first gang to have parahuman members, and now they were cementing their position by being able to recruit more. As a hero, I considered it my job to run them out of town.

So when I spotted (in swarm sense) one of their members beating someone up a block away, I decided to start making an impression. I didn't have my costume ready, but as I said, I was a block away. There would be nothing to connect me to Weaver if I formed a swarm clone and sent it in. So I did.

The man was so engrossed in the beating he was giving that he didn't even notice my swarm clone forming. I decided to get his attention using swarm-speak.

"**Excuse me?"**

He looked around startled, before seeing the clone. "Get out of here, f***bag." Clearly he hadn't looked very hard at it.

"**I don't think so."**

"Tough guy, huh? You asked for... What the?" It seemed his brain had finally registered what he was looking at.

"**I'm Weaver. Crime in this city ends. Starting today; starting with you."**

I disassembled the swarm clone, and rebuilt it between him and his victim.

"**You have two options,"** I swarm-spoke from behind him, and he spun, nearly falling over in the process. **"One: You leave this man alone, pass a message to your bosses that I intend to take them down, and you never commit a crime in this city again. Two: You refuse my first offer, and I send in the swarm. It ends with you stung multiple times, tied up, and with the police called. Your choice."**

I dissolved the clone, moving all of the insects into the large black cloud that was now hovering over the alley. The thug looked up. I didn't get a good enough vision translation to see his reaction, but he wisely chose option one. He ran.

I watched him until he left my range. I had no doubts that he would tell his bosses what had happened; they would want to know about any new player in town. As for the not committing a crime again? I doubted it. Probably not in the next couple of days, but he would do it again, and I would not be so forgiving next time.

* * *

Over the next three days, I made sure to stop at least one crime on my morning run. It was surprisingly easy to find crimes when you could see so far around. The day after my run in with the Overlords thug, I had stopped a convenience store robbery; the day after that, a car thief.

The previous day I had broken up a drug deal. That had been the first time I had to use option two. The buyer was clearly too high to make a sensible choice and started throwing things at the swarm. He didn't even notice the webs being tied around his legs.

By this point, a pattern had been detected. HVO (Heroes and Villains Online) now had a profile on me, although not very detailed; they didn't even have my name. Word had gotten around about my intimidation tactics, and the state of the addict from the day before left no doubt that I would follow through if necessary. They weren't sure if I was a hero or a villain, but they were leaning towards hero, given that I had called the police in to deal with the restrained addict and the drugs I had made the dealer leave behind.

There was even speculation that the swarm clones were my real body, which I found a pretty laughable idea, and not a great image for a hero. I needed to do something about that.

Parahumans Online had had a feature allowing capes to be confirmed as members by another, trusted, member. There was a similar feature on HVO, but it required one of the site admins to meet in person (or, at least, meet in a way that leaves no doubt as to who you are). Fortunately, one of them lived in New York. I sent her a message stating that I was Weaver (aka unknown insect hero) and would like to have it confirmed.

I was pleased when she immediately agreed to a meeting in Central Park the next morning. It was definitely good to get my secret identity working before the university year started.

* * *

I hadn't spent much time having fun over the past few days, so Jenny decided it would be a good idea to drag me out to a bar. There was a small place, just down the street from where we were living, which appeared to be popular with the locals.

I sat there, feeling completely out of place. I hadn't socialised much at school due to the bullying. I hadn't socialised much after quitting school because I was a powerful supervillain. I hadn't socialised much since coming here, because my history made me feel out of place. In a way, everyone here owed me their life, and it was not a comfortable feeling to know that everyone you met was alive because of you.

I was contemplating sneaking away while Jenny wasn't listening, when I was pulled out of my thoughts by a voice.

"Not comfortable in a crowd, huh?"

I looked round with a start. A guy was standing there, the definition of 'tall, dark and handsome'. He made me feel sad. There was a certain resemblance to Grue.

I had no idea if Grue had survived. I hoped he had, but I had no memory of using darkness powers in the final battle. I had collected everyone, and that everyone hadn't included Grue.

I suddenly realised I still had to answer his question.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked.

"You keep looking longingly at the door," he said. "So, yes, it is that obvious. I'm John."

"Taylor."

"Nice to meet you, Taylor. So what exactly are you doing in a place you clearly don't want to be?"

"My flatmate practically dragged me in here. She's one of the few friends I have left, so I didn't want to turn her against me by leaving early. Not that I wasn't still considering it."

He laughed. "I know how that feels. All of my friends are on the other side of the country."

"At least you still have the possibility of contacting them," I countered. "I don't even have that."

"Really? Why not?"

It was at this point that my brain caught up with my mouth, and I realised I had said too much. I had to try and cover my error. "I'd rather not talk about it."

John shrugged. "That bad? I can respect that."

"Thanks," I said.

"So, Taylor, can I buy you a drink?"

My mind froze. Was this hot guy actually flirting with me? "Er... Sure," I finally managed. "Just a lemonade, please."

We spent the next half hour talking. John was studying physics at the same university as me, one year above me. He had quite a strong interest in parahumans, and the fact that many powers seemed to break the current laws of physics into pieces. I was going to have to be careful around him.

He finished up by asking me to a movie, which I accepted immediately. It was fair to say that I was very interested.


	5. IV: Reputation

**IV. Reputation**

_(3__rd__ Person POV)_

Lois Johnson (HVO Name: QueenOfNewYork) sat on the bench. She was understandably nervous about this meeting, given that the person who had messaged her was claiming to be one of the creepiest capes in the city.

They had agreed to meet at eleven, two minutes from now, but there was no sign of him(?) yet.

She heard 'Weaver' before she saw him(?). The sound of millions of insects approaching was easy to pick out, especially as he(?) wasn't trying to take her by surprise.

It didn't stop her from jumping slightly as the swarm formed a humanoid figure on the bench next to her. **"QueenOfNewYork?"** it asked.

"Weaver?" she replied.

"**That's me,"** it replied. **"Sorry I couldn't turn up in person, but my costume isn't finished yet."**

"Ah, that answers that question. You do have a body other than this thing. Male or female?"

"**Female. Don't bother trying to look for me, I'm not visible from where you are."**

"So what exactly are your powers?"

"**I can control every creature with a very simple mind within my range. Insects, worms, that sort of thing."**

"How are you classified, or have you not been classified yet?"

"**Master 6, Thinker 2,"** the swarm replied immediately.

That confused Lois. "Er... Master and Thinker?"

"**Oops... I... er... I meant Controller 6 and Mental 2. Roughly."**

* * *

_(Taylor)_

I could have kicked myself; I had used the Earth Bet classification system without thinking. Mistakes like that could cause problems for me. There were enough people around with knowledge of how it worked on Earth Bet that if one of them heard how I described myself, they would know exactly what that implied.

* * *

_(3__rd__ Person)_

Lois was really confused now. From what the heroine had said, she had defaulted to using different names for the classifications, but those names were always used in the English-speaking world. 'Master' and 'Thinker' were definitely not used anywhere. _"What is this girl hiding?"_ she thought.

After a couple of moments of thought, she realised that she had heard those terms before. She just couldn't remember where.

"**I should go,"** the swarm said to her. It sounded like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Obviously, Weaver knew she shouldn't have said 'Master' or 'Thinker' and was trying to get away before making any more mistakes.

"Er... OK. See you," Lois said, before watching as the figure next to her dissolved into a mass of insects. "Well, that was awkward," she muttered to herself when she was alone.

Hidden behind a tree, 300 metres away, Taylor got up and walked away. Even her worries about her mistake were unable to stop the small smirk from crossing her face at that last comment.

* * *

**Heroes and Villains Online: Private Messaging**

**This conversation includes: QueenOfNewYork (QONY) and MathBrain4362**

**QONY:** Met with Weaver today. She said something strange. I'd like your opinion.

**MathBrain4362:** What did she say?

**QONY:** I asked her power classification, and she used the words Master and Thinker before correcting herself to Controller and Mental. It seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it.

**MathBrain4362:** Master and Thinker are the terms used on Earth Bet.

**QONY:** O_O

**QONY:** Maybe she's from there.

**MathBrain4362:** She does appear to have more skill with her powers than the length of time she's been around would suggest.

**QONY:** If she's from Earth Bet, maybe she was involved in the Golden Morning.

**MathBrain4362:** An interesting theory. I will look into it.

**MathBrain4362 has left the conversation.**

* * *

The Number Man sighed. Taylor was blowing it already.

It had come as quite a shock to him when Weaver had appeared: the power removal should have been permanent. They could do it again, but until they understood exactly why her power had returned, there wasn't much point.

Still, she needed to be careful. Mistakes like that could cost her everything. Capes from Bet weren't trusted here, and if it got out that she was Khepri, she wouldn't last long.

The fact that Master and Thinker were used on Bet was public knowledge, so there was no point in trying to hide it, but he would have a lot of work to do if he wanted to avoid QueenOfNewYork discovering the truth about Weaver.

* * *

_(Taylor)_

Lectures began the next morning, so I made sure to get up early for my morning run. At this time, the streets were a lot quieter and most of the criminals were still in bed, so I didn't see a single crime to stop. I was actually slightly disappointed.

The lectures themselves seemed to go OK. None of the stuff we covered was anything new to me. It was just revision of things we had covered in school, and I was pretty bored after three whole hours of it.

I decided to eat a very quick lunch and head out on patrol.

It wasn't long before I found a gang of Overlords thugs beating someone up in an alley. I sent in the swarm and they immediately backed off. I was about to give them their warning when a voice spoke from the end of the alley. "Weaver, I presume. We've been waiting for you."

I switched my focus to look at the newcomer, and quickly realised that my message had definitely been passed on. White bodysuit over one of the biggest sets of muscles I had ever seen: my swarm senses told me I was facing Lady Crusher.

I knew from my research that Lady Crusher was a flightless Alexandria package... I really needed to stop thinking in terms from Bet. Anyway, she was strong and tough. Fortunately, I was a block and a half away.

I knew exactly how to handle Alexandria packages. I had to be careful not to kill her, but I could do it. Just using a scaled down version of what I did to the actual Alexandria would work fine.

"**Lady Crusher,"** I said, calmly.

She went straight to business. "Weaver, if you do not cease your activities there will be unpleasant consequences."

"**You think you're a threat to me?"** I asked. She was in no way a threat unless she worked out where I was controlling the swarm from.

"You don't?" she replied, sounding slightly surprised.

"**I've dealt with powers like yours before. They make you feel invincible, but leave one critical weakness that you haven't noticed."**

Lady Crusher laughed at that. "You think I have a weakness? You're a fool, Weaver. This is an ultimatum. You either join the Overlords or we take you out."

It was my turn to laugh, and I made sure it was transmitted through the swarm. **"After all I've done in my life, being hunted by a bunch of racist pricks such as the Overlords does **_**not**_** scare me."** It was time to stop playing around; I needed to send a proper message. Memories of my first fight with Lung all those years ago came to the surface. I had been an idiot then: unprepared, attempting to take on someone well and truly (at that point) out of my league, and actually showing up in person.

This time I knew exactly what I was doing. I swarmed Lady Crusher. I needed to block her airways for long enough to knock her out, but not long enough to kill her.

She closed her mouth very quickly, but I could get her to reopen it by blocking her nose. I sent a pair of flies up her nostrils. The fight wasn't so much a fight as a thrashing. Two minutes later, Lady Crusher was being bound in spider silk, while the rest of the Overlords' thugs were being held back from helping her by the rest of my bugs.

In the end, they abandoned her, and I called the parahuman division of the police to have her picked up. Preferably before she woke up and broke through the webs.

* * *

The police picked her up while she was still unconscious, but later found out that she had woken up in the van and had simply broken through everything they had. It seemed that her Brute (sorry, Brick) powers were quite a bit stronger than they had expected.

Still, given that the vastly more experienced PRT had let Lung escape after I took him down the first time, I figured that these relative newbies were allowed a few mistakes. Although I wasn't particularly happy with having made such a powerful enemy right from the start. I had walked that road last time, and it didn't lead anywhere nice.

I walked home, not having any afternoon classes until next week, and found an envelope pushed under the door of the flat, addressed to me.

I opened it quickly, and read the note that was inside.

_You need to be more careful. People are already connecting Weaver to Bet. Remember the classifications are different here._

_-C._

That wasn't good. Less than a week of hero work, and Cauldron had already picked up rumours about my true origin. I had no doubts that it was my slip during my meeting with QueenOfNewYork that they were referring to. Funny how two words could damage my plans better than any parahuman. No hero team would accept a cape from Bet, except those formed by other Bet refugees. Too much mental baggage for most teams, and the refugees probably wouldn't take too kindly to seeing the person who had turned them all into puppets.

I was screwed.

* * *

_(Jenny)_

Jenny walked along the street, not really paying attention to her surroundings, there were the usual crowds for rush hour in New York, and, other than making sure she was heading in the right direction, there wasn't much to interest her here.

The crowd moved slowly, and smoothly, but sometimes small gaps would open up. Jenny had lived there long enough to know that it was best to take those chances to get ahead. So when one opened up in front of her, she... froze.

The young woman on the other side of the gap. _"Fusion Shard. Allows user to create a spherical region of space where all atoms undergo fusion. User is fireproof. Severe, irreparable damage: incapable of budding. Full power access still possible but other functions corrupt. Threat Level: High."_

Jenny forced herself to move forward as the person behind her walked into her, but was very careful not to get too close to the parahuman. Her shard said the damage was irreparable, but there was no way in a million years that she was going to risk it trying to do something.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before the woman walked into a building. A quick look told Jenny it was a dance studio.

"_Note to self,"_ she thought, _"If I ever get the urge to take up ballet, don't go here."_


End file.
